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Role of astrocytes, microglia, and tanycytes in brain control of systemic metabolism

Nature Neuroscience volume 22, pages 7–14 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Astrocytes, microglia, and tanycytes play active roles in the regulation of hypothalamic feeding circuits. These non-neuronal cells are crucial in determining the functional interactions of specific neuronal subpopulations involved in the control of metabolism. Recent advances in biology, optics, genetics, and pharmacology have resulted in the emergence of novel and highly sophisticated approaches for studying hypothalamic neuronal–glial networks. Here we summarize the progress in the field and argue that glial–neuronal interactions provide a core hub integrating food-related cues, interoceptive signals, and internal states to adapt a complex set of physiological responses operating on different timescales to finely tune behavior and metabolism according to metabolic status. This expanding knowledge helps to redefine our understanding of the physiology of food intake and energy metabolism.

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Fig. 1: The cellular functional heterogeneity of hypothalamic AgRP or NPY and POMC neurons in metabolic sensing and systemic metabolism.
Fig. 2: The cellular functional heterogeneity of hypothalamic non-neuronal cells in metabolic sensing and systemic metabolism.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by European Research Council ERC AdG (HypoFlam no. 695054) to M.H.T. and ERC STG (AstroNeuroCrosstalk no. 757393) to C.G.-C.; ANR/DFG Nutripathos Project ANR-15-CE14-0030-01/02 to M.H.T. and S.L.; the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 1052) Obesity Mechanisms to M.K. and I.B.; and the Agence National pour la Recherche (ANR) grant number ANR-15-CE14-0025 to V.P. and ANR-15-CE14-0030-01 and ANR-16-CE14-0026-02 to S.L.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Diabetes and Obesity, Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany

    Cristina García-Cáceres & Matthias H. Tschöp

  2. Department of Physiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Eglantine Balland

  3. Inserm, Laboratory of Development and Plasticity of the Neuroendocrine Brain, Centre de Recherche Jean-Pierre Aubert, Université de Lille, Faculté de Médecine, Lille, France

    Vincent Prevot

  4. Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Serge Luquet

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Stephen C. Woods

  6. Institute of Anatomy, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

    Marco Koch & Ingo Bechmann

  7. Department of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Tamas L. Horvath

  8. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Chun-Xia Yi

  9. Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Instituto de Investigación la Princesa; IMDEA Food Institute, CEI UAM + CSIC; CIBEROBN, Instituto Carlos III Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Julia A. Chowen

  10. Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Alexei Verkhratsky

  11. Achucarro Center for Neuroscience, IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain

    Alexei Verkhratsky

  12. Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Alfonso Araque

  13. Division of Metabolic Diseases, Department of Medicine, Technische Universität, Munich, Germany

    Matthias H. Tschöp

Authors
  1. Cristina García-Cáceres
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  2. Eglantine Balland
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  3. Vincent Prevot
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  4. Serge Luquet
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  5. Stephen C. Woods
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  6. Marco Koch
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  7. Tamas L. Horvath
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  8. Chun-Xia Yi
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  9. Julia A. Chowen
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  10. Alexei Verkhratsky
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  11. Alfonso Araque
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  12. Ingo Bechmann
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  13. Matthias H. Tschöp
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthias H. Tschöp.

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García-Cáceres, C., Balland, E., Prevot, V. et al. Role of astrocytes, microglia, and tanycytes in brain control of systemic metabolism. Nat Neurosci 22, 7–14 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-018-0286-y

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